The JANUS (Jovis Amorum ac Natorum Undique Scrutator) VIS-NIR Multi-Band Imager for the JUICE Mission

Abstract

The JANUS instrument (Jovis, Amorum ac Natorum Undique Scrutator) aboard the JUpiter ICy moons Explorer (JUICE) is a multispectral camera enabling imaging in the 380-1080 nm wavelength range. The performance and capability of JANUS fulfils all requirements for imaging the variety of different targets JUICE will investigate, including the icy satellites, Io, small inner and irregular moons, the rings and Jupiter itself. JUICE’s orbital trajectory in the Jupiter system will allow icy Galilean satellites observations from afar to closest approaches of a few hundred kilometres, resulting in spatial sampling from km/pixel down to 3 m/pixel respectively. All other targets will be observed from a distance > several 105 km, i.e. spatial sampling above several km/pixel. Thirteen bandpass filters provide good spectral coverage with bandwidths from several tens of nm down to 10 nm. The spectral resolution of JANUS will provide unprecedented characterization of endogenic and exogenic geological processes that shaped the icy satellites surfaces, enable monitoring of volcanic activity on Io, and enable investigation of the physical and dynamical properties of small satellites and rings. The dynamics of Jupiter’s atmosphere will be characterised over more than three years at different altitudes thanks to the ad-hoc selected filters. This paper briefly summarizes the science objectives of JANUS and describes in some detail the instrument architecture, its design, performances and observational capabilities. Although specific aspects, like e.g. data calibration, will be covered in future papers, this work is aimed at offering a general reference to the science enabled by JANUS and the design and capabilities of the instrument.